Hill Heat

Student leaders in architecture and engineering from three universities at the US Solar Decathlon on the Mall discuss special features of their leading-edge, solar-powered houses and how their experience has helped shape their future as innovators. Participants are from the University of Colorado, Boulder – a two-time solar Decathlon winner, Carnegie Mellon University (Pittsburgh, PA) and the University of Maryland, College Park. Panel moderator is Bobbie Faul-Zeitler, editor of Green News Update and mentor to the University of Maryland team. Co-sponsored by the Smithsonian office of Energy Management.

At the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History at 10th Street & Constitution Ave. NW.

18/10/2007 at 02:00PM

The Environmental and Energy Study Institute (EESI) invites you to a Congressional briefing featuring the Solar Decathlon and the value of incorporating high-performance “green” design in buildings. The briefing will also discuss how provisions in the pending energy bill can help improve efficient homes. Buildings account for more than 40 percent of annual U.S. energy use and are, in turn, responsible for more than one-third of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions. Because buildings last many decades, the economic, environmental and health impacts of inefficient building design are long-lasting.

The Solar Decathlon-taking place on the National Mall October 12 – 20- is an exciting competition in which 20 teams of college and university students from across the country, including four international teams, compete to design, build, and operate the most attractive, effective, and energy-efficient solar-powered house. The house must also be able to power an electric vehicle as well as be “off the grid.” These solar homes are powerful, comfortable, and stylish. They are relaxed and elegant, wasting neither space nor energy. High efficiency solar houses like these are using readily available technology and designs-not futuristic concepts. But policies like stronger building codes and the solar provisions in the energy bill are essential in helping make our homes greener and much more efficient-saving both energy and money.

• Rhone Resch, Executive Director, Solar Energy Industries Association
• Dr. Kaye Brubaker, Associate Professor, University of Maryland
• Bill Nesmith, Assistant Director for Conservation, Oregon Department of Energy
• Lowell Ungar, Director of Policy, Alliance to Save Energy

In addition to discussing the Solar Decathlon, the briefing will address the role of codes and standards in building energy efficiency. Measures to promote increased residential building energy efficiency are included in the House energy bill HR 3221, Title IX, Sec. 9031. “Encouraging Stronger Building Codes.” The briefing panel will also discuss the solar provisions in the energy bill, including tax incentives for solar energy.

This briefing is open to the public and no reservations are required. For more information, please contact Fred Beck at [email protected] or 202.662.1892.

17/10/2007 at 01:00PM

The Solar Decathlon is a competition in which 20 teams of college and university students compete to design, build, and operate the most attractive, effective, and energy-efficient solar-powered house. The Solar Decathlon is also an event to which the public is invited to observe the powerful combination of solar energy, energy efficiency, and the best in home design.

The event takes place on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., October 12 – 20. The team houses are open for touring everyday, except Wednesday, October 17, when they will close for competition purposes. An overall winner is announced on Friday, October 19 at 2 p.m.

Teams of college students design a solar house, knowing from the outset that it must be powered entirely by the sun. In a quest to stretch every last watt of electricity that’s generated by the solar panels on their roofs, the students absorb the lesson that energy is a precious commodity. They strive to innovate, using high-tech materials and design elements in ingenious ways. Along the way, the students learn how to raise funds and communicate about team activities. They collect supplies and talk to contractors. They build their solar houses, learning as they go.

The 20 teams transport their solar houses to the competition site on the National Mall and virtually rebuild them in the solar village. Teams assemble their houses, and then the active phase of the Solar Decathlon begins with an opening ceremony for students, media, and invited guests. The teams compete in contests, and even though this part of the Solar Decathlon gets the most attention, the students really win the competition through the many months of fund raising, planning, designing, analyzing, redesigning, and finally building and improving their homes. The public is invited to tour the solar homes and event exhibits during much of the competition.

Awards Ceremony – Winner Announced: 2:00 p.m., Friday, October 19

Houses Open for Public Tours The public is invited to tour the houses during the open hours, listed below. Expect to stand in line to tour the houses. If you wish to see all of the houses, plan to spend two days.

• 10:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m., weekends
• 11:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m., weekdays

Houses Closed Houses will be closed for 1 – 2 hours while jury evaluations are taking place October 13 – 16 and October 18 – 19. Times vary for each house. All day Wednesday, October 17, the houses are closed for controlled temperature and relative humidity measurements.

Consumer Workshops The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and other event sponsors are offering solar energy and energy efficiency workshops for consumers. Workshops will not be offered on Thursday, October 18, during Building Industry Day. See the daily schedule below for workshop offerings.

Ask the Experts Panel Weekends only: 11:00 am – 1:00 pm and 3:30 pm – 5:30 pm.

A group of green-building experts, coordinated by sponsor Blue Egg, will be on hand to answer questions. (Each presentation will be 30 min, with 10 min for Q&A)

Educational Exhibits Two educational exhibits are open during the following times:

• 10:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m., weekends
• 11:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m., weekdays

12/10/2007 at 10:00AM

Witnesses

Panel 1

• The Honorable Alexander Karsner, Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, U.S. Department of Energy

Panel 2

• Kyle Pitsor, Vice President of Government Relations, National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA)
• Mr. Steven Nadel, Executive Director, American Council for an Energy-Efficent Economy

Coverage from Bloomberg:

The world’s three largest lighting companies, long at odds over a way to eliminate inefficient incandescent light bulbs in use for 125 years, now favor Senate legislation (S. 2017) over a House-passed measure [H.R.2751, Sec. 9021 of H.R.3221] some say will outlaw all but the spiral-shaped compact fluorescent bulbs.

Royal Philips Electronics NV in Amsterdam, the world’s largest light-bulb maker, Munich-based Siemens AG and General Electric Co., based in Fairfield, Connecticut, support a bill introduced last week by Senator Jeff Bingaman, a New Mexico Democrat.

The measure would phase out incandescent light bulbs by 2014 and replace them with light-emitting diodes, or LEDs, halogen bulbs, compact fluorescent lamps, or CFLs, and higher efficiency lights. The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, which Bingaman chairs, held a hearing on the plan today.

The House bill would require a further improvement by 2020 in efficiency that industry representatives do not support because they say it would rule out bulbs they are developing to meet the 2014 standard.

“If you tell us that the products we have to spend millions of dollars bringing to market in 2014 will become obsolete in 2020, it’s very difficult for a company to go to their shareholders and say that’s an investment worth making,” said Randy Moorhead, vice president of government affairs for Philips Electronic North America, a division of Royal Philips.

House and Senate aides said today they hoped to reconcile differences in the proposals in negotiations on energy legislation, which currently is bogged down in Congress.

12/09/2007 at 10:00AM